Trying To Find The Magic In The Mess

How Ditching Coffee For Tea Helped My Anxiety

I’ll admit, I used to be a coffee addict. My day didn’t start without a cup. And I usually had one – or two – more to get through to the evening.

But now I don’t drink it at all. Seriously.

Before you call me crazy and banish me from your life forever – hear me out. I had a very good reason for ditching coffee and it’s roasted deliciousness.

Coffee and the caffeine that powered me through life was a big contributor to my anxiety.

Anxiety is something I’ve struggled with my entire life. Most of my anxiety comes from a chemical imbalance in my brain, which Zoloft is helping me correct. But there were other things that were in my control that I needed to change to help quiet the frantic feeling my mind fights everyday.

Coffee happened to be one of those things.

It wasn’t easy cutting out coffee. I have two kids, a husband, a job, and I go to school. I also like to occasionally have a social life. This takes energy, right? And I don’t have enough of it naturally.

I was skeptical that tea would give me the energy I needed when I decided to make the switch. But it has actually given me the energy to do it all.

And it doesn’t exacerbate my anxiety symptoms.

Having an anxiety disorder gives me this feeling like something is wrong, but I don’t know what. It’s an almost constant feeling that something bad is going to happen, with no reason to feel that way. It’s a sudden racing heart when I’m sitting still.

And when I would drink coffee, my heart would flutter 1,000 times worse. And that shaky, worrying feeling would happen even more frequently.

So I made the decision to permanently ditch coffee.

It hasn’t been easy. It’s particularly hard when I walk past a coffee shop and the aroma of coffee wafts through the air. And sometimes it just feels wrong that I only use my Keurig to brew tea.

But I know it’s a decision I had to make to feel better. And that makes it easier.

What lifestyle changes have you made to improve your mental or physical health?